The 'gothic' soap opera Dark Shadows, which ran on ABC between from June 27, 1966 and April 2, 1971 was in retrospect probably one of my favorite shows. Being a kid when it first aired, I watched it in the summer and occasionally when I was home sick. Featuring vampires, witches and other supernatural beings, my parents didn't approve. Man, have times changed. Today, this might even be children's fare. Later, its reruns were a staple for my wife and I at dinner time. We placed our two 12" B&W TVs on the dinner table (her's rolled and mine would blank out...or was it the other way around?). That lasted for a couple of years. All in all, I probably saw a very small sampling of its episodes. Being a daily show, it racked up 1225 episodes over 5 seasons. You can even buy the entire series - on 132 DVDs!
As much as I liked it, that's too much for me so I'll wait for the movie. Rumor has it, Tim Burton will direct and Johnny Depp will star as the 200 year old Barnabas Collins. I really like Depp but mostly dislike Burton's work. (There's no need to comment on that, ya' like what ya' like.) So, I'm not sure if I'll love it. I only vaguely remember the short-lived remake in the 1990's so it must not have been too keen on it. Or, I was too busy with work and family.
The original was typical of a low budget soap of the day. Lots of missed lines, miscues and generally bad acting. It was not uncommon to see someone unrelated to the scene to appear in the background or even pop in and quickly exit. This even makes me wonder if any quality production can ever 'live up' to the original. I doubt the cast and crew of the new movie will even try and I'll try to keep an open mind.
I didn't think much of the original cast so I don't have opinions on most. My favorite character other than Barnabas was Angelique, the witch who cursed Barnabas and pursued him through the ages. Here's the original Angelique, Lara Parker, in front of a portrait of her in the show (probably one of the most expensive props).
Here she is with fangs bared in front of a portrait of Barnabas, played by Johnathan Frid (the 2nd most expensive prop?).
Maybe a reunion with Kiera?
(BTW, I got on this tangent because the original series was #98 on IO9's 100 best sci-fi/fantasy TV shows.)
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